Everyone knows that, like all good Republican lawyers, John G. Roberts Jr. is a member of the Federalist Society, the conservative law and public policy organization where right-of-center types meet to denounce liberalism and angle for jobs in the Bush administration.

And practically everyone -- CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Legal Times and, just yesterday, The Washington Post -- has reported Roberts's membership as a fact. One liberal group opposed to Roberts's nomination, the Alliance for Justice, has noted it on its Web site.

But they are wrong. John Roberts is not, in fact, a member of the Federalist Society, and he says he never has been.

AND:

"That's a good question, let me think. Now that you mention it -- no," was former Bush Justice Department official Viet Dinh's response when asked if he had ever spotted Roberts at any Federalist events.

A related question is why Roberts would not want to be a member.

Some conservatives said that a Federalist affiliation, while a definite plus within Bush administration circles, could only provoke hostile questions from Senate Democrats -- so Roberts, in keeping with his low-key approach to conservatism, just steered clear.

"It's smart from his perspective," a former Bush administration official said.

So, I read the first post and then went and downloaded the PDF and found this very interesting part (The text in brackets is the original translators comments), namely Section 10.b:

10.

a. The Iraqi citizen has a complete and unconditional right to ownership in all parts of Iraq without limitation.[Oddly, this is one of the few rights that is absolute, not depending onimplementing legislation.]

b. Private ownership is protected. Nobody may be prevented from using his property except within the boundaries of law. Nobody may be deprived of something he owns except for purposes of public welfare in cases specified by law and in the manner stipulated therein and with the condition of just and prompt compensation.

c. The dignity of the individual must be honored and protected. All forms of bodily and psychological torture are forbidden. Those harmed have the right to demand compensation for the material and moral harm they suffered in accordance with law.

Now, please read section 11 completely:

11.a. The state shall take care to strengthen the role of civil society on the basis of legitimate goals and peaceful means, as well as empowering it through cooperation with the institutions of international civil society.

b. It is forbidden to construct civil society organizations whose activities are aggressive, harmful to the interests of the society, secret, military in character, or take the form of militias.

c. The state shall take care to revive the tribes, benefiting from those positive values and customs that do not conflict with the principles of the true religion, the law, and noble humanistic values that aim to strengthen the bonds of society, strengthening unity and peace among its members.

Under this proposal, not just the NRA, but the Boy Scouts will be banned, but let me point out my favorite parts:

ARTICLE 23: DUTIES

1. Iraqi citizens are responsible for defending the homeland and preserving its unity.

2. Paying taxes and fiscal fees are a duty for all Iraqi citizens, it being provided that there are no taxes, levies, duties, and fees imposed except by law.

3. Citizens may not own, bear, buy, or sell weapons, except by a permit issued in accordance with law.

4. Preserving national unity, protecting state secrets, and defending and supporting the constitution are the duties of every Iraqi citizen.

Yup, keep trusting GWB and his team to force "real" freedom upon others, I will trust in myself and my arms...

An FBI report obtained by the McCurtain Daily Gazette of Oklahoma contains never-before-published information and allegations regarding links between a former member of the Army's elite special forces, Timothy McVeigh, and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The man at the center of these revelations is David Michael Alexander Hollaway, an individual whose life experiences appear to be as unusual as they are conflicted.

Referred to as "Dave" by his friends and business associates, the 48-year-old man who is the focus of the report served an eight-year stint in the U.S. Army where he earned the right to wear the elite Green Beret.

Also included in that same report of investigation are references to Hollaway's lengthy service to Kirk Lyons, a Black Mountain, N.C., lawyer with a long history of representing members of the Ku Klux Klan, the Branch Davidians and other fringe elements.

And then there is Hollaway's alleged role as a pilot for the CIA and his well-established relationship with the FBI.

However, the most remarkable allegations contained in the Feb. 25, 1997, FBI report, are those regarding Hollaway's eerie admissions that McVeigh failed to park the bomb truck in the best location in front of the Oklahoma City federal building that fateful April morning in 1995.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - In a move that could trim the trade gap with the United States, China revalued its currency higher against the dollar Thursday and said it would no longer have the yuan tied to a fixed rate against the dollar.

The move, while small at this point, could be the first step to reduce competition for some U.S. companies from lower-priced Chinese imports. A stronger yuan could also increase the revenue U.S. exporters get from sales to the world's largest country, one of the fastest growing consumer markets.

It also reduces the threat that Congress could impose threatened trade sanctions on China.

On the downside for American citizens is that it could lead to increased prices for Chinese-made goods such as apparel and electronics.

I must say that the timing of this is curious- so pay close attention to the markets over the next several weeks.

19 July, 2005

President Bush went to Denmark on July 5 with 11 names of top candidates under consideration. In the last few days, he interviewed five -- one on Thursday, two on Friday -- including Judge Roberts, who got a presidential tour of the residence, including the Lincoln Bedroom, during his one-hour visit -- and two on Saturday.

Bush made his decision last night, finalizing it this morning. During lunch with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Bush stepped out the room and called Roberts. When he returned, he said to the group, which included the leaders' wives: "I just offered the job to a great, smart 50-year-old old lawyer who has agreed to serve on the bench."

And despite the intense scrutiny at the White House, Judge Roberts and his wife came to the presidential residence for dinner tonight. At 7:30 tonight, Bush began notifying congressional leaders.

According to me:

Roberts grew up in Long Beach, Ind., and attended a private school in nearby LaPorte before going on to Harvard and Harvard Law School. He clerked for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York, and later for Rehnquist, who was then an associate justice.

After that, he worked as a special assistant to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith and as an aide to White House counsel Fred Fielding -- who also mentored Luttig -- during the Reagan administration.

Roberts joined the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson in 1986, then went into President George H.W. Bush's administration, arguing cases before the Supreme Court as Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr's principal deputy. He was nominated to the D.C. Circuit in 1992, but the appointment died when Bill Clinton succeeded Bush as president. Roberts returned to Hogan & Hartson, where he headed the firm's appellate practice and frequently argued before the Supreme Court. President Bush nominated him to the D.C. Circuit two years ago.

And -

Of the two, Roberts spent more time practicing law in Washington, where he has networked with many Democrats. When Roberts was nominated for the D.C. Circuit in 2003, Clinton's former solicitor general, Seth P. Waxman, called Roberts an "exceptionally well-qualified appellate advocate."

"He is a Washington lawyer, a conservative, not an ideologue," said Stuart H. Newberger, a lawyer and self-described liberal Democrat who has argued cases against Roberts.

He put in his time advising the Bush legal team in Florida during the battle over the 2000 presidential election and has often argued conservative positions before the court -- but they can be attributed to clients, not necessarily to him.

I read this information from this (also found via Drudge) Washington Post article, and if I had known this two weeks ago, I would have bet $10,000.00 on Roberts getting the nomination...

13 July, 2005

David Codrea posted Monday, The Canons of Journalism. When I read the article, I was surprised that it was about an article in a newspaper I read upon occasion, especially since I do business in the Rio Grande Valley- particularly Hidalgo and Cameron Counties.

The paper in question is the McAllen Monitor, sometimes referred to as "The Monotonous" by the locals. The article is about a new indoor shooting range that will be opened by Sgt. Frank Guerrero of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department.

David Codrea took exception, and rightly so IMO, about how the article was written, the "facts" presented and not checked by the reporter Cari Hammerstrom.

From the first paragraph:

"If, in the presence of an overanalyzing golfer, a little sniffle is a distraction, imagine the damage bullets zinging overhead can do to the psyche."

Well my paranoid readers, the only outdoor firing range that I am aware of in Weslaco, Texas is the Weslaco Police Department's outdoor range. So, if bullets really are "zinging overhead", should not the fine citizens of Weslaco, Texas be extremely concerned with the marksmanship of the Weslaco PD? No more than any other city with police departments, but that is a different post entirely.

I contacted a very good friend and business associate of mine, who prefers that I do not mention his name, but was O.K. with using his initials- DC down in the McAllen area, and asked him to check on this for me, and he did. I sent him the link to David's post and he was not pleased at all. He called and spoke with Cari Hammerstrom, who he says swears she has no bias one way or the other, and he said she sounded sincere. Further, DC told me that Cari Hammerstrom stated that she has shot guns on a number of occasions, and even taken courses (PD and Border Patrol). I asked DC if he asked her if that was as a LEO, or just a quick course for reporters, and DC said that he did not clarify this. DC did also tell me that he told Cari Hammerstrom of David Codrea's posting and where to read it- she said she would check it out.

DC then told me that he called the Weslaco PD, and spoke with an operator and a Sgt. Rodriguez, and asked both of them if the Weslaco PD range was north of Tierra Santa, after reading the first three paragraphs of the article to them, and both said yes it is.

Now, neither DC nor I think that the officers of the Weslaco PD are intentionally, or otherwise, "zinging" shots over the Tierra Santa Golf Course as stated in the article, and both of us think David Codrea was right in calling Cari Hammerstrom on the carpet for the sloppy reporting. David Codrea spent about an hour doing research and DC said that he spent all of twenty minutes on the phone. One man is in California and the other in McAllen, and both were able to get better facts than Cari Hammerstrom. Why is this? In my opinion, laziness and a desire for sensationalistic "journalism" by reporters.

Several posts back, I was really angered by Tom Bernardin and his assertions. I stated that men should call such stupidity on the carpet and give no quarter. David Codrea has done the same with reporters with his post and I agree completely.

Thank you David for pointing out Cari Hammerstrom's weak reporting and how easy it can be to disprove the lies and sensationalism of reporters- particularly in today's World. Go over and read his post, and not just the one I reference here, but the many others as well. The man's blog is a damn fine one and worth your effort.

I will state for the record that I have never liked Dell, as I have posted previously, but some customers are too cheap to order anything but, and others, do not know any better. And, if we have to deal with that Piece of Crap Company, at least we get paid for it.

Unfortunately, when it is family that has ordered that four-letter crap ("Well I know you are busy and did not want to bother you.") and it is a one of the Ma's (I have several- do not ask, as I am not saying) you have to help them out and get things fixed- it is only proper. Besides, even if they did not wipe your ass when you were small, they smacked you when you were older and then pointed you in the right direction, and with me, it was more than once.

So, I have a severely infected Dimension 2400 that needs repair and after recovering the important data, the fastest, and generally most painless thing to do is wipe the drive using the manufactures software to factory zero, and reinstall everything on the freshly cleaned drive.

You do need the original software for this, and I decided to call Dell after Ma swore she sent me all of the CD-ROM's that came with it. Of course the Windows XP Home Restore CD was missing.

Two hours and ten minutes later, two continents, and I think a sub-continent, five departments reached- spoke to a total of eight times, and nine different Piece of Dell Employees (the last, Max, an Indian, who kept saying "Uh-Huh" and then "I must scrutinize your account!") I was able to order the $10.83 Dell Windows XP Home Restore CD (Part Number R2553).

This morning I had read how Dell has closed their Customer Support Forums, and I put it up as another one of their failures, but never did I expect to have go through with what I did this morning.

So, to honor such blatant incompetence, I have but this to say:

Fuck off and Die Michael Dell!

Your company, IMO, has sucked since day one. You have always sold crap that is overpriced and you lack service, and always will. I will make it my mission to convince my customers to never, ever, purchase your crap again. I have one customer that has over 200 of your systems, and I recently convinced them to purchase a real server, a Compaq ML350G4 (HP brought nothing to the table, Carly is a stupid bitch that desereved to be canned, and Capelas was a fat assed sell-out), they finally understand what a quality PC server is. This is my first into that business and it will not be my last.

You may think that this is my first bad experience with your company- nope!

Here is another:

Several years ago, a customer purchased a monitoring software system, and the software vendor insisted upon your crap. Your crap dies in six months and customer calls me to troubleshoot. I tell them I must charge, and the customer tells me they do not care. Fifteen minutes after arriving, I know it is the IDE header on your piece of crap motherboard. So, I call the Piece of Dell Company and forty-five minutes later, your piece of crap technician agrees with the obvious diagnose, and tells me he will send me a new motherboard to replace it. Whoa there, you piece of crap company! You are trying to cheat my customer out of your warranty obligation and I insist that you honor your warranty and send someone out to repair it. I tell your piece of crap technician that I will leave the system open so that the tech that comes out will have easy access and make sure you put that on the work order. Your piece of crap technician tells me he will.

Four days later I get a call from a spastic, sub-contracted piece of crap technician who is freaked that the system is open and I tell him to read his work order and he swears it says nothing about an open system. I then have to tell him what is wrong, what he is supposed to do, and tell him to start the restore CD after he has the system up and running- OK he says after changing and washing out his panties.

Five days later I get a call from the client asking me when I am going to finish the system, and I ask stupidly- "What system?" I am then told the open Piece of Dell computer used for monitoring. I stupidly say- "Open?"

I have many more stories of your company's piece of crap products, antics and service, but that is enough for now.

09 July, 2005

A LEO orders food at a drive thru, gets his change, and then swears he has been short changed. The manager checks and finds there is no twenty federal reserve fiat dollar ($20.00) in the change drawer.

08 July, 2005

DUBAI (Reuters) - Arab newspapers urged Britain on Friday not to turn against Arabs and Muslims after bloody bomb attacks in London blamed on al Qaeda Islamist militants.

While all editorials condemned the onslaught, some linked it to Britain's part in the Iraq invasion or its backing for a U.S.-declared "war on terror," which, they said, ignores the injustice of occupation fueling militancy in the Middle East.

The Friday prayer preacher in Tehran said Britain, which has said Thursday's attacks bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda, should remember that Osama bin Laden's group was a U.S. creation.

Good to hear that you Raghead Johnnys- I am glad that you fear a backlash.

As I have said before, invest in hemp rope.The "powers-that-be" have said this is not a religious war.

(Rant on)

The terrs have said it is.I tend to believe the ones instigating it. They KNOW why they are doing it.They want a religious war? Fine.

All bets are off.Unrestricted warfare. Everywhere on the business end of my rifle is a free-fire zone. They want a guerrilla war? That street runs both ways.

Geneva Convention?I refuse to extend the Geneva Convention to someone who can't even spell Geneva Convention, much less know what it means.

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htmArticle 2In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peacetime, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.

IIRC, #1, it only applies to 2 OR MORE High Contracting Parties, & Al-Qaeda is NOT a High Contracting Party. Therefore, there is no compulsion to abide by the GC.

When this country is SERIOUS about winning this war, call me.(Rant off)

I would have given the House of Saud thirty (30) days to produce bin Laden, his entire family, and their forunes. If the House of Saud had failed or refused, then I would have ordered one strike to show that I was serious.

I then would have informed them that they have seventy-two hours to comply with my original demand and state that if I am refused once more, then I would turn all of their land into a sea of glass.

Once the bin Laden's were here, they would have been questioned as to who were their u.S. accomplices and then, along with their cohorts, summarily executed for their acts of war. Their forutnes would have been used to pay restitution to the victims. To pay for the strikes, I would billed the House of Saud five years worth of oil. We would then hear no more of jihad after this.

06 July, 2005

A man was standing in line at a check-out counter of a grocery store and was very surprised when a very attractive woman behind him said, "Hello!" Her face was beaming. He gave her that "Who are you look," and couldn't remember ever having seen her before. Then, noticing his look, she figured she had made a mistake and apologized. "Look," she said "I'm really sorry but when I first saw you, I thought you were the father of one of my children," and walked out of the store. The guy was dumbfounded and thought to himself, "What the hell is the world coming to? Here is an attractive woman who can't keep track of who fathers her children!"

Then he got a little panicky."I don't remember her," he thought but, MAYBE ... during one of the wild parties he had been to when he was in college, perhaps he did father her child! He ran from the store and caught her in the parking lot and asked, "Are you the girl I met at a party in college at my fraternity house and then we got really drunk and had wild crazy sex on the pool table in front of everyone?"

"No", she said with a horrified look on her face. "I'm your son's second grade teacher!"

During his 7½-year imprisonment, he was tortured numerous times, forced to wear vise-like heavy leg irons for two years and spent four years in solitary confinement. While imprisoned, he organized the prisoner culture in defiance of regulations forbidding prisoner communication and improvised a cohesive set of rules governing prisoner behavior. Codified in the acronym, BACK U.S. (Unity over Self), these rules gave prisoners a sense of hope, which many credited with giving them the strength to endure their ordeal.

Upon his release in 1973, Stockdale's extraordinary heroism became widely known and he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1976. A portion of his citation reads: "Stockdale deliberately inflicted a near mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated their employment of excessive harassment and torture of all prisoners of war."

04 July, 2005

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.? That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ? That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.? Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.